A Chronicle of a Catholic Seminarian's Summer Apostolate Experience at St. Benedict's Parish in Chicago, IL.
As I Work and Pray with the People of St. Benedict’s Parish, I Pray That This Blog Becomes a Prayer Itself! May All Who Encounter the Words Written Here Grow Closer to Christ and His Blessed Mother!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Monday, June 22, 2009

What I thought was going to be another lazy Monday turned out to be quite the clock-stopper. Even with a 45-minute nap in the afternoon, I was so famished and fatigued that I thought I was going to fall asleep at the dinner table!

Morning brought mass at 8:30AM, and I elected to have breakfast at McDonald's after chatting with Barbara at the rectory. I was curious about the nearest Gamestop location; I wasn't sure if she would even know what Gamestop is, but after she responded with details and directions of two different store locations, she confirmed to me once again that she is the "go-to gal" at the parish for directions. Thank you Barbara!

I did spend a LONG time in the shop, though. I bought one game for myself and one for my brother, whose birthday is this week. I agonized over what game to get him for a good 45 minutes. Here's hoping he likes it!

I got back to the parish in time to grab a snack and check e-mail. I decided to give Mary Anne Kufner a call and try to schedule a communion visit again. I will admit that I really didn't WANT to do it; I knew that it would easily take up my entire afternoon if I did, and I wasn't looking forward to venturing out into the hot weather again! At the same time, I knew that Mary Anne absolutely craves the Lord in a way that even this Catholic seminarian finds unfathomable. I was not going to deny her the chance to receive our Lord if she truly wanted it!

After sorting out some business with the seminary, I gave Mary Anne a call. She told me that afternoon visits would be fine, even on weekdays! Slightly disappointed (and also slightly inwardly pleased!), I managed to get the tabernacle key from Fr. Steve and head out to the Senior Center to visit Mary Anne.

I spent a good 2+ hours there. I met her housekeeper, Tiffany, who mentioned her own relative's time in the seminary. Looks like she gets alone with Mary Anne pretty well, though not in a "best friend" kind of way. Mary Anne herself mentioned something to the same effect in our conversation over the course of the afternoon.

It would be quite futile to try to recall every ounce of chitchat I had with Mary Anne, but I do think it is worthwhile to write down that I think that she is a very holy woman. Perhaps not QUITE as holy as she lets on, but this woman is doing quite a bit for the poor souls in purgatory, let me tell you! God bless her! Lord, please keep her, your servant, safe as she suffers for your greater glory!

Dinner was, as I mentioned earlier, strangely tiring. The afternoon heat combined with my time spent visiting Mary Anne left me ready to collapse; being sleep-deprived from the night before didn't make things better. At least I still managed to finish my daily rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet before I fell asleep. God is good!

Anne, our cook, seemed slightly fatigued today, as well. She didn't seem quite like herself; maybe it was just me. Her cooking was excellent, as always. God bless you, Anne!

Now, the Benfest meeting - THAT was interesting. Just when I thought that I was about to catch a break (only 4 people showing up to the meeting scheduled for 7PM? 7:15, and only 5 people are there? Can you say "cancellation?"), the people there essentially chatted amongst themselves about everything Benfest-related. Looks like I'm helping out with volunteer check-ups tomorrow; Mrs. Marge is going to need even more help than what she originally told me she would need when I saw her this morning. Hmmmmm...here's hoping she isn't stressing about this TOO much. God help her and all of us!

Lord, keep us safe from all that could harm us. May your Eucharist satisfy every longing of our hearts and keep us firmly united to You forever. AMEN!

No comments:

Post a Comment

About This Blog

Before graduating from the college seminary, every seminarian studying for the Chicago Archdiocese is required to spend at least one summer in a “discernment internship” – an apostolate program in which a seminarian spends ten consecutive weeks living in a parish rectory working with the resident priests as well as with the parish community at large.As a part of this apostolate, each participating seminarian maintains a journal of his day-to-day activities.

It is the hope and prayer of the author of this blog that, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, the sharing of this discernment experience may draw all closer to Christ, her Son and our redeemer. May He fill the hearts of all who visit this tiny corner of God’s grand universe with his infinite love!

About Me

Prayer for Priests

"O Jesus, I pray for Your faithful and fervent priests; for Your unfaithful and tepid priests; for Your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Your tempted priests; for Your lonely and desolate priests; for Your young priests; for Your dying priests; for the souls of Your priests in purgatory.

But above all I recommend to You the priests dearest to me; the priest who baptized me; the priests who absolved me from my sins; the priests at whose masses I assisted and who gave me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way. O Jesus, keep them close to Your heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen."